Bruce Lee to receive prestigious Asian arts award

08/03/2013

Martial arts movie legend Bruce Lee is to be honoured 40 years after his death with a prestigious prize at the upcoming Asian Awards.

The Enter the Dragon star, who died in 1973 at the age of 32, will be given the Founders Award for his dramatic impact on Western cinema. Lee's wife, Linda Lee Caldwell, will collect the honour at a special ceremony in London next month.

An Asian Awards spokesman says, "Bruce Lee was the first person of Asian descent to successfully cross over into Hollywood and make such a dramatic impact on Western cinema. You can argue that if it wasn't for Lee, Asian culture and martial arts would never have really penetrated Western culture and we wouldn't have the likes of Jackie Chan, Jet Li and now actors like Irfan Khan, who starred in Life of Pi."

The Asian Awards ceremony is due to take place at the Grosvenor House hotel in London on 16 April.

Previous recipients of the Founders Award include Freddie Mercury, who was honoured for his contribution to music.